Gamecocks close out second day of camp

The University of South Carolina football team went through day two of the 2016 preseason camp on Wednesday morning, working out at the new practice fields at the west end of Gamecock Park.

As was the case on Tuesday, the team worked out in helmets and shorts in a split-squad practice, with the veterans going first and the younger players finishing up. The team will have a similar workout schedule for each of the next two days before putting on full pads for the first time on Saturday.

“Second day,” said head coach Will Muschamp following the workout. “We play football in pads and we’re in helmets right now. There was a better competitive edge today with guys competing on the field. It was good for the young guys to get them out there and go through some team periods. We’ll let them get acclimated to the heat a little bit and understanding that part of it. We’ll just continue to work and do the things we’ve got to do.”

Coach Muschamp acknowledged that the offensive line should be the strength of the offense. “They should be with 34 starts back,” he noted. “I think we’ve got some good players up there. We’ve got some toughness up there. We’ve got some guys that go compete in practice the right way up there and embrace competition.”

The quarterbacks continue to split reps evenly throughout the practice session. “I thought both (Perry Orth) and Brandon (McIlwain) did some good things and I thought Jake (Bentley) threw the ball well in the second half of practice,” said Muschamp. Lorenzo Nunez has been working primarily at wide receiver, but is expected to have some packages in place at quarterback, according to the head coach.

“We’ll see when we get in pads what they look like,” concluded Coach Muschamp in his overall assessment of the squad. “A lot of those guys look really, really good in shorts. It’s always been my experience when you put pads on it gets a little noisy out there.”

Coach Muschamp announced that junior college signee Akeem Cooperwood would not be joining the squad. Cooperwood is a 6-7, 359-pound offensive lineman from Knoxville, Tenn. who has spent the past two seasons at Georgia Military College.

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